STOCKTON - The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office is investigating a homicide after a man was shot to death Thursday morning in a southeast Stockton neighborhood, authorities said.

Deputies responded to a report of a shooting about 2 a.m. When they arrived, they found 31-year-old Robert Lee Collins lying in the front yard of a home in the 3900 block of East Horner Avenue near South Hinkley Avenue, just east of Highway 99, officials said.

Collins was suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body, authorities said. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition to undergo emergency surgery.

Collins succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead about 6:45 a.m., authorities said.